Joseph and his "one" colour dream dress

Sometimes when I am rummaging around in charity shops I say to myself "surely I am not going to find another great treasure, surely I can't be that lucky" and then something catches my eye and the smile spreads wide and the childish happiness takes over. Everyone comments on how lucky I am and they question how I find my bargains. It is true that I am very lucky and I honestly do not shop in them 24/7, who has the time?..  Its usually no more than one trip a week (and then it's usually to only one or two favourite charity shops not a whole days truffle hunting) so even I am surprised when I continually "get lucky" and this week was no exception.

I popped to Staple Hill on Wednesday to have a rummage for a new watch. John has accidentally broken mine and he now owes me a £5 charity shop replacement. So, off I went with my target in mind but alas no watch was jumping out at me. But, what did jump put at me was this cream cocktail dress from none other than Joseph, beautiful ladieswear designer. It's made from a gorgeous crepe fabric that just oozes elegance and is in mint condition. I have no idea why it would have been given away and I never will.   It is currently a little tight but not to worry, that diet I keep planning on starting will sort that out. I couldn't believe my luck. As I was came out of the changing room, attempting not to wriggle around too much and imagine what it would look like on a more svelte version of me, a greyhound dog came out from the back of the shop with one of the volunteers. It was after all the PDSA charity shop (dedicated to raising money for sick animals and owners that have trouble paying vets bills). I got chatting to the gentleman about the dog and the shop and when I came back out of the changing room still dithering, he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I knew the dress was a bargain at £10, it was the guilt of our impending decorating bills that was causing the dithering. But the kind man offered it to me for £7 to see if that would help ease the guilt. I have to say I felt rather bad accepting his offer, it's a charity shop at the end of the day but deep down I was very grateful for his generosity and snapped up the offer on the table.

So there you have it, another absolute bargain just proving that charity shops and second-hand are worth a second glance. That rare Chanel jacket has to be around the corner one day....... right?